Short answer
A balcony kitchen is a depth problem before it is a length problem. At 656 mm of cabinet plus a 20 mm counter overhang, a run takes 676 mm off the wall — so on a 1,200 mm balcony you have 524 mm to stand in. That number decides everything.
Depth first
Balconies are typically 1,200 to 1,800 mm deep. A run at 676 mm leaves 524 mm to 1,124 mm of standing space.
Below about 900 mm of standing space, a built-in grill becomes unusable because the lid arc and the person cannot occupy the same place. This is the constraint that pushes most balcony kitchens to a countertop grill.
Lengths that work
1,200 mm: a single 800 sink module and two end panels. Nothing else.
1,800 mm: sink plus a 400 narrow storage module, which is where the bin and the bottles upright live.
2,400 mm: sink cabinet plus the 800 mm oven bay — the smallest run with a built-in grill, and only if the depth allows.
Why a countertop grill wins here
It needs no cabinet aperture, no gas cabinet, and no lid arc above the counter. It also comes indoors for the winter, which on a balcony matters because the appliance is the thing that suffers most from weather.
On a balcony a sink plus a countertop grill is a real outdoor kitchen. A sink plus a built-in grill on a narrow balcony is a kitchen you cannot stand in front of.
The rules that are not ours
Many buildings prohibit stored LPG on balconies, and some prohibit gas grills entirely. Check the building rules and the local fire code before designing around gas.
Where gas is not permitted, an electric grill is the answer and it changes the cabinet requirements — no cylinder, no gas venting, but a power supply that has to reach the balcony.
What a balcony actually allows
1.2 m is the smallest real kitchen
One 800 mm module and one 400 mm module. Below that it is a bench with storage, which is a different product.
Check the load before the layout
A full run is heavier than any planter on that balcony. Many buildings have rules, and the body corporate is the place to ask.
The lift is the constraint, not the balcony
Modules are 656 mm deep and 900 mm high. Measure the lift door and any turn on the route before ordering.
Castors earn their keep
On a small terrace the run has to move for cleaning and for anything the building needs access to. A fixed run becomes an obstacle.
A tabletop grill removes the hardest module
It takes away the 1,182 mm appliance bay, the fascia venting and the gas bottle question in one decision.
Questions we get about this
What is the smallest balcony kitchen?
1,200 mm — one 800 sink module and two end panels. Below that a trolley is a better answer than a kitchen.
Can I have a built-in grill on a balcony?
Only with depth. You need the lid arc plus standing room, which is about 1,450 mm from the wall including the cabinet. Measure the balcony before choosing the grill.
Is gas allowed on a balcony?
Often not. Check the building rules and the local fire code first. Electric where gas is prohibited.
Before you order anything
Send the grill model and the run length. You get the aperture, the module list and one itemised price back in writing — freight shown separately, valid 15 days.